Radiological exposure assessment from soil, underground and surface water in communities along the coast of a shallow water offshore oilfield in Ghana

Abstract

Radiometric determinations have been carried out to assess public exposure to radioactivity for communities along the coast of a shallow water offshore oilfield in Ghana (which started their operations recently) in order to establish baseline data using alpha spectrometry after radiochemical separation and non-destructive gamma spectrometry. The average activity concentrations of (234)U, (238)U, (230)Th and (232)Th by alpha-particle spectrometry and of (226)Ra, (228)Ra, (228)Th, (40)K, (210)Pb, (234)Th and (137)Cs by gamma-ray spectrometry were determined in the soil samples. The activity concentrations of (234)U, (238)U, (230)Th and (232)Th were determined in the water samples by alpha-particle spectrometry and of (226)Ra by liquid scintillation counting. The total annual effective dose to the public was estimated from the measured activity concentrations and this was clearly below the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) reference level of 1 mSv y(-1) for public exposure control. In addition, the estimated values of Raeq, Hex and Hin were all lower than the recommended acceptable values and the mean values of gross alpha and gross beta determinations performed for all the water samples give values that were all below the Ghana Standards Authority and World Health Organization recommended guideline values for drinking water quality. The results obtained show insignificant public exposure to radioactivity. However, this study provides important information for future studies on subsequent evaluations of the possible future environmental contamination due to activities of the oil industry in Ghana.